Spirits of Republic City
by dget
Summary: The spirits are angry, and technology all over the city is failing. Korra needs to find out why. Oneshot.


**Author's Notes: So, I'm sure this has already been done, but this is just my take on the fact that Book 2 is titled "Spirits." I'm probably not going to post anything I add to this, so consider it a oneshot! :D **

When Korra opens her eyes, she finds, strangely enough, that she is on a level plain, facing a bay. The sun sparkles off the water, and she thinks that she can make out a small island through the glare. She turns her head to find mountains at her back. As peaceful as the setting may seem, the young Avatar is still on her guard. She has come here expecting the worst.

A splashing sound brings her attention back to the bay, which suddenly seems much closer than it was before. She watches, wide-eyed, as a giant tentacle emerges from the waves. It is followed by another, and another, and then an eye the size of a Satomobile wheel can be seen and Korra is gaping as an enormous squid heaves itself onto the rocky shore. She blinks, and suddenly a woman stands in the squid's place. She is tall, and her skin is somewhat mottled, and from a distance Korra almost thinks that she can see the woman's long hair writhing like the tentacles that had appeared on the beach but a moment before. The woman stands regarding Korra, an impassive look on her face. Abruptly, her eyes flick to a point behind where the Avatar stands. It is then that Korra feels a cold breath on her neck.

"Hellooo," a voice whispers, and it is as frigid as the mountain air, as unwelcoming as the winter winds. It seems, inexplicably, to come from all sides; yet when Korra whips around, there is no one behind her. "You must be the Avatar." This time, the voice comes from directly in front of her, drifting past her ears in a gentle rush. "We've been waiting for you."

"I know." Korra swallows, and speaks louder, affirming the voice. "I've come to find out what the trouble is."

"The trouble?" This voice is deep and gravelly, and comes from beneath her feet, accompanied by a rumble of the earth. "The trouble?" It repeats, incredulously. Korra watches as a column of rock rises from the ground before her, before bits of it crumble and fall away, revealing a humanoid form. She is reminded of watching a statue being carved, except over the course of milliseconds rather than months – and the statue seems to be mobile, judging by the fact that its roughly hewn lips are currently moving. "Avatar, if you don't know what the trouble is, then you are perhaps the most ignorant incarnation yet."

Korra grits her teeth, expecting to feel the familiar surge of fire that usually accompanies her anger, but it does not come.

_Oh yeah. No bending in the Spirit World._

"Stop," Korra hears. She turns to realize that it is the tentacle woman speaking for the first time. Unlike the other two spirits, she has a lovely voice, reminiscent of gentle waves lapping on the shore. "Insults accomplish nothing," she chides as she approaches. "Avatar, what _do _you know?"

Korra raises her hands, palms forward, in a defensive gesture. "Listen, I only just got back from the Southern Water Tribe, and I was sent here – to the Spirit World, I mean – almost as soon as I touched down. All I know is that the people of Republic City are terrified. From what I hear, there's been horrible weather, mysterious storms, for over a month now. Some people have disappeared. Technology has been failing – electricity is out all over the city, pipe lines keep breaking, infrastructure in general is down. Beifong is going crazy - some criminals have been using the chaos as an opportunity for looting, rioting has broken out, and she just can't keep it all under control. It's obvious that you guys are pretty angry, but I don't know why, and frankly, I don't think the citizens of Republic City have a clue either. Some of them don't even believe that the spirits are causing the trouble," Korra shrugs.

"EXACTLY!" The earthen spirit roars.

Korra is bewildered. "I don't understand –"

"Avatar." The water spirit interrupts. "We will show you." The woman takes her arm and turns her. Korra looks down to the point of contact, slightly repulsed by the feel of the spirit's slimy skin on her own.

When she raises her eyes, Republic City stands before her. Suddenly, it all makes sense. The bay at her back; the small island resting in it; the mountains before her, now obstructed by tall buildings. She had been seeing Republic City before it was Republic City, before it was a Fire Nation Colony, before it was a simple Earth Kingdom town. She had been seeing Republic City the way the ancient spirits remembered it, unaffected by benders or nations or even humanity. She pauses at the realization. "You-" Korra addresses the tentacle woman – "you're the spirit of Yue Bay?"

The tentacle woman nods, and her hair pulses. "Yes, though I have not always been known as such, and I take other guises and other names on occasion. But I am not alone in guarding this place. I am one of many. _We _are the spirits of this land, the spirits of this city."

The spirit of the bay spreads her arms wide, and Korra's eyes follow the gesture. It is then that she notices a multitude of spirits – they crouch as birds on the rooftops, hover as smoke from the chimneys, flow as rainwater through the gutters, and, perhaps most eerily, walk as humans through the streets. Korra feels as though every spirit there is focused solely on her, with cold, calculating eyes, and wonders how she possibly could have missed seeing them earlier.

"We have been here since the beginning of time," the tentacle woman states. In a flash, the landscape is back to as it was when Korra first observed it, empty of human evidence. The many spirits, however, remain, eyes still pointed towards the young Avatar. "When humans first came to this place – good people, solid and steady and honest, like the earth they bent – they prayed to us, the spirits of the land, to be allowed to settle here and raise their families."

"We are not unkind, Avatar," the frigid voice whispers in Korra's ear. "We granted their request." A small Earth Kingdom settlement appears on the plain in front of her, and Korra watches as the people go about their humble daily lives, raising crops, bending the earth, and occasionally doing battle with neighboring villages.

"They were in touch with us," the earthen spirit says simply. "They knew their place, knew that they needed the help of the spirits to thrive. They meditated, prayed, made offerings, respected and feared our powers. In return, we – the spirits of the land – claimed them as our people. Their numbers grew."

The bay spirit picks up the story then. "When a new people came to live in this land – a people of fire – we watched over them, too. After all, they, too, respected us. The original villagers had told the newcomers of our power, and, while the first generation of fire colonials was belligerent, by the second generation they venerated us as they should." As Korra watches, the town grows, and she sees fire benders and earth benders working side by side so that the land and its people may prosper. She observes holidays to celebrate a mixed pantheon of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom spirits, ceremonies to thank the land for a good harvest, children in bending lessons meditating on the spirits of their elements for added strength.

"But then our little town grew into Republic City," the tentacle woman continues. "The 'era of peace and love' ushered in by the then-Fire Lord and the previous Avatar-" here she shoots Korra an unreadable look – "paved the way for an era of unprecedented growth. New sources of energy were discovered, new technology was developed on an almost daily basis. Soon, people were living in buildings that were taller than ever before, reaching towards the heavens." The spirit of Yue Bay crosses her mottled arms over her chest with narrowed eyes.

"Soon, the people were transporting goods in mechanical, lifeless carts, or flying them in airships," the statue chimes in. "Soon, they were calling forth lightning from wires and water from pipes in their very homes, regardless of what kind of bender they were or were not. Soon they were taking photographs, sending messages through telegrams and telephones, broadcasting their voices over the radio! Soon…" his gravelly voice trails off.

"Soon the people forgot about us," the tentacle woman states, and hostility rolls off of her in waves.

"FORGOT ABOUT US!" shrieks the cold voice, whipping past her ears like a snowstorm's wind.

"After all, if humankind could accomplish such wonderful things without the need for _spiritual mumbo-jumbo,_" the bay spirit begins, biting off the words, "why should we be worthy of respect?"

"Why should spirits be prayed to for a good harvest when new agricultural techniques almost guarantee enough crops for the whole city?" The earthen spirit asks rhetorically. "Why should a mother ask the spirits to save her sick child when she can simply take him to have the newest medical treatment performed?"

"Why would humans need us," hisses the cold voice, "when they have Technology for their new god? When they can worship at the altar of their own brilliance? When they believe that their own powers far exceed anything we could do for them?"

A shiver travels down Korra's spine.

"And, most insultingly," the statue interjects, "even the once intense spiritual practice of bending has been degraded to mere entertainment for the masses! Benders fighting one another for sport, never sparing a thought for the source of their gift!"

At this last pronouncement, a cacophony arises among the many spirits gathered. Shrieks and indignant shouts are heard; it almost deafens the Avatar. The bay spirit's hair is changing colors at an alarmingly rapid rate; the earthen man is trembling with anger; the frigid voice is roaring from all directions. Korra closes her eyes as the noise continues.

All at once, silence comes crashing down. Korra slits her eyes to see that the spirit of Yue Bay is standing directly in front of her, so close that she can smell the ocean's deep. "Yes, Avatar," she says, and her voice is no longer lovely; it's as rough and dangerous as a tidal wave cresting. Korra's eyes fly fully open. "We know about your participation in this _Pro-Bending_. We know about your own lack of spirituality, which continues despite the fact that you have unlocked your ability to airbend. We know that you, too, are in danger of thinking yourself mightier than the spirits.

"So, consider this little experience to be both a warning and an assignment: we spirits are angry, and we demand the respect that is ours. Republic City will not be free of our interference until its people remember that they are indebted to us, that they are _nothing_ without us, that their power is _nothing_ compared to ours!" Her hair pulses an angry red, and the surrounding spirits shriek again in support, cawing and bellowing until she holds up a hand for silence. "So go back, Avatar, and pass on the message to your beloved city: their beloved Technology will do nothing to protect them until we are placated."

The spirit world abruptly fades from around the Avatar, until all she sees is black.

Korra opens her eyes.

**Author's Notes: **

**So, like I said, I'm sure this whole concept has been done already. Personally, I'm a bit of a history nerd, and this idea was inspired by the fact that, historically, as urbanization and industrialization occurred, people's religious practices changed greatly. **

**Reviews and criticisms are appreciated! I'm always looking to become a better writer and storyteller!**


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